What Is: CommTech Jeopardy!

Over the last few weeks, we’ve talked a lot about how important it is to give our employees the right tools for the job, but it’s equally important that we provide the right training.

Last week I got to participate in a pretty innovative tradition here at Comcast that is entirely focused on training…and some fun, too!

It’s called CommTech Jeopardy and it’s led by Patrick O’Hare and Tom Karinshak. Here’s how it works. Each year, technicians and care agents from across the company team up to compete against each other by correctly answering tough questions about the technical side of our business. These tournaments are hosted locally all over the country, and the top six teams come together in Orlando, Florida for the National Championship.

As a first timer, I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was blown away by the experience, and so impressed by our techs and care agents, their deep technical knowledge, and the drive and passion they have for our company, our products and solving problems for our customers.

I also got the chance to talk to our employees, who told me how valuable the contest is from a training and teamwork perspective. They spend months studying, which gives them an opportunity to freshen up on what they already know, learn new things, meet new colleagues, and get familiar with areas of the business they don’t necessarily deal with day-to-day. And it’s not just the finalists who benefit, it’s all our techs and agents across the company who participate along the way. One tech said it best: ‘the competition ups everyone’s game.’

Tom, Patrick and I also took advantage of having some of our best techs and care agents together in one place, and spent half a day hearing from them about what’s working, what’s not, and where we need to do better. They said the tools we’ve given them are great…but they need more – and faster. They also want better communication tools between our care agents, our dispatch office and our technicians. So we’re going to get working on all of that.

As we’ve said, training is a critical part of improving the customer experience. But so is rewarding our amazing employees for their hard work. CommTech Jeopardy brings the best of both together.

Huge congratulations to the winning team – Cloud X. But for me, the best part is that, no matter who wins, CommTech Jeopardy makes a difference for our employees and our customers.